White Halloween
by Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet
Summary: Jack finds out the hard way that using multiple snowglobes simultaneously is a bad idea, and now the very makeup of his reality has changed...drastically. For instance, North is a short, stubby man, the Easter Bunny looks like a giant ball of fluff and the Tooth Fairy is scarier than the Boogie Man.
1. Chapter 1

The first thought that managed to meander through Jacks' mind when he woke up was something along the lines of '_remind me never to get into a fight with North's snow globes again.'_ He'd really just been having fun, as normal, flying through the halls leaving his usual icy decorations behind him to trip up the elves and yetis that had been hot on his tail (of which he'd been entirely too proud as it wasn't easy to get that many of them into a game of tag, although he _really_ hadn't wanted to get caught by that mob) when he'd ducked into a room he'd originally thought had been another, much _larger_ room, and straight into a veritable shelf of the little, magical baubles.

His second thought dealt with his staff and he had to force his eyes open (thankful for the dim lighting as it otherwise would have been all too painful) to find it. It had fallen into the snow only a foot or two away from him, and he located it rather quickly. Having the familiar wood in his hand calmed his mind enough for the third thought.

_Where am I?_ If he'd run into and broken the snow globes (a high probability judging from the crashing of broken glass he remembered hearing before the swirl of colors had knocked him out), then he needed to know where he'd been teleported to, and really he had no idea.

Now he'd never admit it aloud, but the snow globes tended to make Jack about as uneasy as they did Bunny, only for very different reasons. Bunny didn't like heights or speed he had no control over. Jack just didn't care for the disorientation he felt after traveling through a portal. It wasn't anything he couldn't deal with, but for centuries he'd learned to be able to recognize his approximate position at any given point on the planet. A lot of that had to do with where he'd started and how long it had taken him to travel. He knew how fast he could move, and so he knew about where he could be whenever he felt he needed to know. Having that thrown off didn't ever make his day.

_So,_ he realized as he stood in the snow bank he'd landed in, _I could be anywhere._ Well, not anywhere. He couldn't help but feel grateful towards fate or whatever reason had lead to him being dropped here in the snow and not in the Sahara Desert, or a tropical island…or the middle of the sea.

He shuddered, quickly brushing that thought aside and focused on his surroundings. He knew cold places, and he'd been given something to work with, so work with it he would. It shouldn't take him long to figure out where he was.

Judging from the actual temperature, he'd say arctic or sub-arctic region; so North Pole or South Pole area. Probably North, judging from the few trees he could see. He frowned at that. From the current temperature, it didn't seem like this land ever got warm enough for even a few trees to grow. Maybe Greenland? Upper Russia? After studying what little he could see, he shook the observation from his head. He could think on that later. Right now he had a priority to get to North and let him know that he was alright.

Then he'd lay low for the next two years so the yetis and elves had time to either forget and forgive or at least cool down. Hmm, he may have to bump that up to two decades, come to think of it. Yetis could hold _grudges_.

He glanced up at the cloudy sky with a slight frown. Well, no moon or stars to help him out there. It seemed like there was nothing for it. He'd just have to pick a direction and keep riding the wind until he figured something out.

Satisfied with his decision, he called the wind and went to leap into the air, only to pause mid-step. The wind felt…different; hesitant almost. As if it didn't know him at all.

"What's wrong with you?" Jack asked, half annoyed and half concerned.

The wind didn't answer, but brushed by him as if to ask '_so are you coming or not?_' He frowned, but shrugged it off and leapt into the air, climbing higher and higher and losing himself in the sheer joy of flying.

After a few minutes, he leveled out and glanced around through the mild storm (that had nothing to do with anything he'd created, he noted). Off in the distance, he could see a little village. At first he almost thought he'd just ended up outside of Santoff Clausen and silently asked the wind to take him in that direction. His relief did not last long, though, as he soon realized that the village, while similar, was not the town he'd taken to visiting whenever he got bored lately.

Actually, he'd never seen this town before…and that range warning bells in his head. He knew _every _village touched by snow.

More cautious now, he let the wind set him down just outside the village, studying it the whole time. Even after he'd landed, he couldn't help but just stand there and blink. It definitely looked like some place that could belong to North. Christmas seemed apart of everything, from the wreathes on the doors to the lights decorating every single house. He could see beautifully done-up trees inside the homes near him and smell cocoa and mint drifting through the crisp evening. Soft tones of trains and carols danced calmly through the air, creating a sense of peace and home that even Santoff Clausen didn't quite succeed in attaining. He found it strange because it hadn't been anywhere near Christmas when he'd gone to see North.

And then there were the children. They ran everywhere and looked about as busy as the yetis did on a regular basis. It surprised him that he couldn't see a single adult among them. He smiled a bit, liking the idea of no adult supervision; no parents to stem a child's belief. Perhaps they'd be able to see him here? Well, only one way to find out.

Swallowing, he steeled himself and walked forward, reaching out to stop one child.

"Excuse me," he said, ignoring how similar it felt to just about every time he'd tried to enter a town those first few years as Jack Frost.

He found himself pleasantly surprised when little boy actually stopped and glanced up at him warily. That's when Jack realized that this wasn't a little boy at all.

"Y-you're an elf?" he asked. He'd never seen one so large. All of the elves he knew had penchants for pointed hats, bells and cookies. They also rarely came up past his knee and tended to cause almost as much trouble as he did on a regular basis. This elf seemed far more serious and came at least to his waist with the little jester-like hat that sank down and fell over his shoulder. Otherwise, he looked to be dressed rather normally for someone running around such a cold town, with the exception that everything he wore consisted of green, red or white.

"Yeah," the elf said warily. "What of it?"

Jack recognized that look. It reminded him of the yetis before he'd become a Guardian. "N-nothing," he stuttered, holding up his hands in a calming gesture. "I was just wondering if you could tell me where I am?"

The elf raised an eyebrow and glanced around as if looking for help. "Uh, this is Christmas town," he said in his little, squeaky voice. "Just like the sign at the entrance says."

Jack blinked and turned to look back the way he'd come. There was indeed a sign, although he couldn't read it from back here. How had he missed it before?

"Oh, right," he said, then turned back to the fidgeting little creature. He could definitely see the resemblance to the elves he knew now. Maybe only the runts got sent to Santoff Clausen? Hmm. There was something particularly disturbing about that idea.

"Yeah, um, where are we? I'm a bit lost and need to find my way back to Santoff Clausen."

The elf frowned, confused. "Santa Claus?" he asked cautiously.

_Well, if that's what they call him around here,_ Jack thought to himself, happy to finally be getting somewhere. "Yes, yes," he said with a smile that seemed to put the elf a bit more at ease. "Santa Claus. Where is he?"

"Straight that way," the elf said, turning around and pointing towards a large house with what looked like a factory-type building exploding out of the back. "He should be in."

The winter spirit blinked. So North came here, huh? Probably looking for Jack. He knew he'd get an ear-full if they'd been out searching for him long. He wondered if Sandy, Tooth or Bunny had shown up to help search.

"Right. Thanks," he said, swinging his staff onto his shoulders and hanging his hands over it on each side as he started off casually down the street. As glad as he was that someone would be happy to find him, he really didn't want the well-meaning lecture North would undoubtedly give him.

"Hey," he heard the elf behind him and turned to see the little thing studying him intently. "Aren't you cold? Would you like a coat…or shoes?"

Jack glanced down at himself for a moment before turning to look back at the elf with a mischievous grin. "Nah, I'm fine. Thanks."

The elf just shook his head in a manner that clearly said 'humor the crazy person'. "Right. Well, good luck."

"Thanks," Jack replied and turned around again. "I'm gonna need it."

The decorations on the buildings just seemed to get more and more elaborate as Jack strode sedately down the snow-covered road. By the time he got to the house at the end of the street, he couldn't help but stare at…well, everything. What hadn't been tacked with a Christmas light had some sort of decoration tied to it somehow (and some of them got extremely creative). Jack actually found it a little overbearing, but for the most part he couldn't keep from whispering 'wow' every few seconds. These guys really outdid themselves.

Maybe it was the whole Christmas Town thing. They wanted to up-play the holiday and so kept it all year round or something. Jack had to admit, it had a rather amazing effect. He could see North's influence easily, as 'wonder' seemed to only scratch the surface.

All too soon, he reached the door to the large mansion and stood warily on the porch for several seconds. He knew this confrontation was coming, but he hated seeing the others worried over him. It wasn't like he needed them or anything. He had been on his own for three centuries after all.

"Just do it, Jack," he muttered to himself and pushed the doorbell.

After a few moments, it clicked open and Jack found himself facing a short, stout man with a long, white beard. Jack blinked as his mind processed this and he finally realized that this must be a fan of North's of some sort. He found it entertaining that North had those kinds of obsessed people strutting after him, although now that he thought about it, it did make sense.

He was also surprised that the man had been able to focus on him. He liked this town.

"Oh, hi," he said with a grin and held out his hand. "My name's Jack. Jack Frost. Nice to meet you."

The Santa-look-alike's eyebrows rose several inches. "Jack Frost?" he asked, almost as if he didn't believe what he'd just heard.

"Yeah," Jack said, leaning casually against his staff. "I was told North is here. Can I see him?"

The short man blinked. "North?" he asked.

"Yeah," Jack urged. "You know, Nicholas St. North? Santa Claus? St. Nick?"

The man's eyes cleared and he nodded. "How may I help you?"

Jack's smile faded and he couldn't help the wry humor as he spoke. "Sorry, little guy, but you're not North."

The man frowned. "I assure you I am Santa Claus."

"Uh-huh. You're a tall, Russian man who delivers presents to children every Christmas Eve?" Jack asked skeptically.

The man's nod seemed firm enough. "I have no nationality. I belong to all nations, but I do indeed deliver gifts every Christmas Eve. Here now, young man, what is all of this about?"

Jack wanted to sigh, but instead he just shook his head. "Look, can you just tell North that I'm alright? That Jack's okay and he doesn't have to worry?"

The little man's frown seemed contemplative enough as he studied Jack. Finally he answered slowly, "Yes."

"Thank you," Jack said and turned around. "Later, little guy. You may want to dress up as Sandman next time. It would be more believable."

And, very thankful that he'd avoided the lecture for now, he took off into the air, riding the wind high and away. He still needed to figure out where he was.

xXx

"Who was that, dear?" Mrs. Claus asked as Santa closed the door.

Santa rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "He said his name was 'Jack Frost'."

Mrs. Claus peeked her head in, surprised. "Jack Frost? And he wasn't an elf?" The elves did have a tendency to give their children very symbolic names.

"No, I don't think so. And what's more, he flew away."

Mrs. Claus's eyes widened even more. "He what?"

Santa shook his head with a sigh. "I fear we are in for an interesting season."

"Indeed," Mrs. Claus agreed. Then she went to make some of her famous hot-chocolate. She hadn't seen her husband that troubled since the Halloween debacle, and she knew a mug of the warm drink would be just what Santa needed to calm down.

xXx

Nicholas St. North was not happy.

"You say he did what?" he asked the yeti that had burst in (yet again) to his personal workshop.

The Yeti threw out some hurried garble that he barely caught and had to mentally go over so he could process it. When he did, his face paled. "Shostakovich!"

With that, he raced from the room and into the mess that Jack Frost had created. He reached the storage room for his snow globes in moments and almost reeled from the enormous magical backlash that practically bombarded him.

After a moment of adjustment, he managed to walk into the ruined room to take a look around. Glass littered the floor, and he could only see a few snow globes that hadn't broken (also on the floor). The shelves were in shambles, far more so than they should be after having been run into by even an immortal teenager. A familiar knot began to wind in his belly.

"This is not good," he muttered then whirled on the yetis that had gathered around the door. "Take inventory. We must know exactly which ones he used before we will know where he went."

Although 'where' didn't bother North so much as 'when' or even 'if'…because that number of snow globes at once could easily punch a hole through to another dimension…and if that had happened, then there was almost nothing North or the other Guardians could do to help Jack.

And if that were the case, they may never see their newest member of the Guardians ever again.


	2. Of Bunnies, Skeletons and Tooth Fairies

As a disclaimer, I do not own _Rise of the Guardians, Nightmare Before Christmas _or_ Darkness Falls_. If I did, I would probably not be living in a house with six other roommates. Just saying.

xXx

Jack flew through the icy air worriedly, ignoring the seed of panic that had begun to grow at the back of his mind. He'd been flying for over an hour while keeping a very close watch on the terrain below and still hadn't come across anything to suggest where on Earth he was. No land marks, no oceans, no nothing! Just snowy hills peppered with trees that shouldn't exist in weather this cold. While it almost seemed as if he'd been flying in circles, the slightly intractable wind assured him he had not.

After this nightmare, he'd never make fun of Bunny's fear of the snow globes ever again. Well…almost never.

Jack sighed in frustration as he idly pulled a loop-the-loop. Normally flying calmed him down, but at the moment, with nothing matching up with his memories and the utter sameness of it all, not even his favorite pastime (besides starting snowball fights) seemed to help his mood. Giving it up for a lost cause, Jack decided to find a nice tree to rest in for a while and see if that would help ease his nerves.

He'd just begun scanning for a random evergreen tree large enough when he spotted a whole circle of tall, exceptionally wide birches. Frowning, he turned in that direction and floated down. Strangely out of sync with the odd surroundings, the grove had no snow around or inside of it whatsoever.

As he neared, he also realized that each of the trees had some sort of picture or decoration on the inner side. Now more curious than ever, he landed in the middle of the clearing, eyeing the strange birches curiously. Each tree's decoration, he saw, was wholly unique, and it only took Jack a moment to realize that every shape belonged to a major American holiday. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the different pictures had to be doors as they each seemed to have a knob of some sort and looked as if they opened.

Christmas, Halloween, New Years, Thanksgiving, heck they even had one for President's Day.

Jack peered at each one closely, and paused at the door with the Christmas Tree. He figured that lead back to Christmas Town. Some sort of portal? Or was it similar to Bunny's warren holes?

He didn't know, and the whole situation did not sit well with him. Still, he had to try to find the other Guardians before he came to any conclusions. So with only the slightest hesitation, he turned and walked up to door with the Easter egg on it and twisted the knob. Inside, he could only see a maw of blackness and had to pause for just a moment longer.

Then a voice that sounded suspiciously like Bunny's cropped up in the back of his head, teasing him about being afraid of a little hole. It succeeded in cementing his resolve and with a scowl that clearly stated that he was _not_ afraid in the slightest, he jumped through the door.

At first he was only falling in blackness, but then he saw lights twirling, all too similar to those blasted snow globes, and the next thing he knew, he'd landed.

A warm, soft breeze blew through what Jack could only describe as a giant meadow, filled with golem-sized, painted Easter eggs on a path leading up to a large hole in the ground that looked more like a cave than anything else. Despite the fact that Jack couldn't see inside the hole at all, it did not seem foreboding or creepy in the slightest. Actually the whole area felt welcoming if anything. He could see small rabbits poking their heads out of the long grass that practically filled the meadow around him, all obviously curious but wary.

"Uh, hi?" he asked, now completely thrown off balance. He'd been hoping for The Warren, and this was most definitely not it. "Uh, I don't suppose any of you know E. Aster Bunnymnd?"

None of the little rodents answered him, although he wasn't sure if that stemmed from the fact that they couldn't, or wouldn't. Instead, the rabbits exchanged glances with each other before looking back at him. Several of them bounded off and into the cave-like hole. Jack just waited, not really knowing what else to do. Besides, he got the feeling that they wanted him to wait there.

After a few minutes, a large rabbit that was most definitely not Bunnymund (although it was at least as large as him) hopped out of the hole, following the rabbits that had apparently gone to get him. He paused and looked around for a moment before hopping slowly up to Jack and sniffing him.

"H-hi," Jack said, not too happy with his personal space being invaded like that. After a moment, the rabbit took a hop back and sat on its haunches. Then it pointed to Jack, and then to the ground.

He'd been around Sandy long enough to know charades when he saw it. "You want to know what I'm doing here?" he asked, just to confirm that he'd gotten the message.

The rabbit nodded.

"Uh, well I was looking for the Easter Bunny."

The giant rodent puffed out its chest and pounded it in a very un-rabbit like manner. Maybe he was related to Bunnymund after all.

"The Easter Bunny I'm looking for is named E. Aster Bunnymund, and he's from Australia…I think." He'd started to get that lost, sinking feeling in his stomach. There was too much in common with what he knew for all of this to be a coincidence, but somehow almost everything he remembered about the holidays had changed.

The rabbit seemed generally confused, although Jack couldn't really tell as this fake Easter Bunny didn't have any facial expressions. Then the bunny's ears dropped and he shook his head, causing said ears to flop sadly.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about."

The rabbit looked away.

Jack sighed. "Yeah, I thought as much."

He paused for a moment and thought the situation through as best he could (mainly to stave off the panic again). He needed to find a way back home…but how could he even begin to try when everything he knew differed from his memories? Why was it all so similar and yet so different at the same time? Like he was on a different world or something.

He paused at that thought. Could he be? He'd heard of other planets in space (Jamie could go off on a two-hour long rant about space travel and other worlds). Could the snow globes have taken him that far? He had no idea, but nothing else seemed to make sense at the moment.

"Oh man," he muttered and then turned to look at the rabbit again. "Okay, so I think I might be from…somewhere very far away, but I need to find a few more people just to make sure. Do you know the Sandman? Or the Tooth Fairy?"

That got an unexpected reaction. Every single bunny ducked down and the giant bunny hopped back several steps in genuine surprise and fear. Jack turned around and blinked at the now invisible rodents with surprise and confusion. He hadn't meant to scare them.

"What?" he asked, turning back to the fake Easter Bunny. Then, after a moment, the rabbit seemed to shake off whatever had startled the other rabbits and studied the winter spirit more closely. After several more uncomfortable seconds, he hopped forward and past a bewildered Jack. Then the bunny stopped a few feet away and looked back at the winter spirit as if to say 'follow me.'

"Um, okay," Jack said slowly and began walking after the rabbit. It didn't take them long to reach the exact same grove of trees that Jack had visited before. The winter spirit almost scowled at that, it had taken him much longer to find it at Christmas Town. Had he been going in circles after all? Or was it just closer to what passed for civilization here? The rabbit then hopped up to the door with the pumpkin on it and stopped, one paw resting on it.

"In there?" Jack asked skeptically.

The rabbit nodded.

"Who's in there? Sandman?"

He shook his head.

"The Tooth Fairy?"

The giant rodent nodded again.

Jack couldn't help but stare skeptically. "Why would the Tooth Fairy be in there?" The giant bunny glanced away. "You don't know, huh?"

The rabbit didn't look up. Jack studied him for several seconds, his eyes darting back and forth between the door and the rabbit. Finally, after a few moments, he sighed. What did he have to lose after all?

Besides, on this planet, the Tooth Fairy may very well belong to Halloween. That actually most likely answered his question as to if this world's Tooth Fairy was different already, but he had to see for himself.

"Alright. Thanks, Mr. Bunny." In his current opinion he liked this nicer, quieter equivalent to Bunnymund better than the sarcastic firecracker back home and didn't want to get on his bad side. "I…appreciate the help." With that he forced a smile and opened the door. The bunny nodded and went to hop away, but paused for a moment. It seemed as if he wanted to say or do something else, but after a second, he just shook his head (causing his ears to flop strangely again) and ran back to his own door.

Jack stared after him for a moment, still uneasy about all of this. Then he shrugged and turned back to the door. He was fairly familiar with Halloween as it usually came shortly after the first frosts of the year, and as such, Jack often found himself watching eagerly over the festivities as they transformed from weeks of feasts that honored the dead to a day where children dressed up to ask for candy. With everything he knew about Halloween though, he couldn't help but wonder just what the Tooth Fairy would be doing associated with it.

Figuring he'd never learn by standing there, he shrugged again and jumped inside.

xXx

_Today_, The Mayor of Halloween Town thought, _has actually shaped up fabulously_. The preparations for the next Halloween had proven to be quite challenging and though Jack Skellington kept assuring him that everything would go splendidly (as it always did), The Mayor had been skeptical until this early dawn's meeting with Dr. Finklestien (though the man had been exceptionally cranky due to lack of sleep, sometimes the downsides of keeping a schedule mostly opposite of his town was bothersome). The mad scientist's showcase of his latest inventions worked marvelously and now they could finally start scheduling rehearsals!

With only eight months until the next Halloween, even the Doctor's genius had only succeeded in getting them to 'a little behind' rather than 'horribly in trouble', but the rush was nothing they couldn't handle with some hard work, as The Mayor knew from experience.

He hummed happily as he hurried along to Town Hall, a nicely manageable list of items he needed to finish by the day's end in his hand so they could schedule the first rehearsal. First up was to arrange a town meeting in order to discuss the run through, and put together the flyers advertising it. He'd then need to set someone at ferreting out Oogie's kids plans for the next little bit so he could triple check that Jack would be attending if those little hellions were. He suppressed a shudder at the memory of meetings they'd slipped into when Jack hadn't been there to scare the brats into compliance.

He also had to finalize the preliminary list of which awards would be handed out that year and had just started going over last year's list in his head when he spotted an unfamiliar face. This young man had white hair capping a face nearly as pale as a vampire's. His blue, long-sleeved shirt with silvery snowflakes looked all too out of place for The Mayor's tastes, especially when his tattered, brown pants and no shoes would do a ghoul proud.

His captivated expression plainly showed his unfamiliarity in their territory, and The Mayor couldn't help but ponder on the reason why no one had snuck up on him and terrified him yet (that or they'd failed terribly and The Mayor would be sending them to remedial scaring lessons once he found out who they were).

Well, as Mayor, some of his newest duties included greeting guests and newcomers that weren't scared off by the trappings of their most amazing holiday, especially if it looked like they might stay for more than ten minutes. This option was a distinct possibility as indicated by the fact that despite passing through the main graveyard and pumpkin patch, he had a certain lack of horror on his face (though based on the bright top, The Mayor give him three hours before something made him run screaming back to wherever he'd come from).

He smartly straightened his top hat, tucked his nicely itemized list into his jacket's inner pocket and walked up to the kid, his happy face firmly in place.

"Hello!" he said brightly. "Welcome to Halloween Town!"

The kid jumped slightly and focused down on The Mayor with a sly grin. "Oh. Hi. Uh, yeah. Interesting place."

Quickly recognizing the similarity of the mischievous expression to the most fearsome of Lock, Shock and Barrel's repertoire, the elected official couldn't help but hope he had over estimated the timeframe this kid would last. Still, he would be polite until he inevitably had to deal with the fallout. "As Mayor of Halloween Town it's always a pleasure to see someone new! Who are you?"

The boy blinked, grin slipping from his face slightly before it widened a little in annoyance, almost as if he'd expected The Mayor to know. The official's face almost turned to his frowning side as the boy stayed frozen that way for a few seconds too long but he managed to stave it off.

The boy seemed to sense the unease he'd created and shot his hand forward in an awkward and obviously unfamiliar move. "Right. I'm Jack Frost. Nice to meet you."

"Jack Frost?" The Mayor asked, now just a little more than politely interested as he shook the newcomers hand. "Would you happen to be related to our Jack?"

The boy frowned. "Your Jack?"

The Mayor couldn't help but gasp. Someone had come to Halloween Town who did not know Jack?! "Jack Skellington?" The Mayor said carefully, thinking for a moment that maybe the boy didn't expect someone so great to go by just his first name. At the apologetically confused expression on the kid's face, The Mayor decided to promptly jump on his favorite soap box (although, despite what the witches said, he was not a fanboy). "Why, the Pumpkin King! He is the master of fear, the scariest person you will ever meet and winner of the best smile award for four decades running! Never was there a better spirit for giving the kiddies a good scare!"

Frost (it was easier to call him that than get him confused with their Jack now that he knew there was no relation) shifted, looking a little uncomfortable. "Uh, I don't think so," he said slowly.

"Oh," The Mayor was proud of himself for hiding his disappointment at not getting another Jack to help with the Halloween plans and decided to get down to business. "So, what brings you to our fine town?"

The boy looked around awkwardly, and opened and closed his mouth a few times as if trying to decide how to phrase his question. The Mayor just smiled up at him quietly and waited. He could understand needing a take or two to gather ones thoughts, which was why, unlike a good 90 percent of the town, he actually liked doing his work at this time of day. The town had a nice, quiet atmosphere that allowed him to get everything that he needed to done with plenty of time to spare.

"Well," the boy said slowly, seeming to measure every word in a decidedly unsure manner. "I'm actually looking for the Tooth Fairy?"

If The Mayor had had blood in his veins, it would have frozen. Instantly his unhappy face twirled into view, startling the boy and causing him to jump and float in the air, his crooked walking stick hovering in front of him defensively.

"T-the Tooth Fairy?! Why would you want to find her?!" he howled.

The boy floated back a little further, hair and clothes blowing as if the wind had decided to pick him and only him up. "Uh…she's an old friend? I think…"

The Mayor reassessed his original evaluation of the boy. If this kid knew _her_ than he might actually last far longer than three hours, and the fallout from that earlier mischievous look would be undoubtedly worse than anything Lock, Shock and Barrel could do.

Still, the idea of _anyone_ knowing and looking for the _Tooth Fairy_… He was an elected official! He didn't know what to do in situations like this! The _Tooth Fairy_ of all beings having visitors!

He had to get to Jack. He'd know what to do. And maybe, if Jack sorted it out and the boy did need to be taken to her, the Pumpkin King could handle the brat while he hid under his desk for as long as the Halloween preparations could spare.

"Jack…" he choked out and switched to his happy face in sheer reaction to the smile the boy gave seeming to mistake him calling him by name and oh this was so confusing… Two Jacks and the _Tooth Fairy_! The Mayor just waved his hands in exasperation and turned on his heel. Jack's house wasn't far away, thank goodness. "Follow me!"

It felt like forever before The Mayor managed to hurriedly hop up the steps of the Pumpkin King's tastefully twisted house. He pulled the screaming doorbell rope and made a mental note (like he did every time he came) to have a similar one installed at his house (mainly to distract himself from the situation at hand).

When no one came to the door after a few seconds, he pulled it again. _Oh, please be home Jack_, The Mayor thought to himself rather desperately, wondering where else the Pumpkin King would be at this time of day.

"The Tooth Fairy lives here?" Frost asked skeptically from over his head. The Mayor startled, almost having forgotten in his rush that the boy was floating over him.

Well, when in doubt pretend like you knew what you were doing! The Mayor scoffed. "Of course not! This is Jack's house. He'll know how to handle this."

"You mean the Pumpkin King guy you were talking about? And handle what? I just need directions."

"As if I call anyone else 'Jack,' Mr. Frost, and you're not one to be asking 'Handle what' when you're one of _her_ friends!" The Mayor snapped just as the door opened.

"Oh, Mayor," he heard a tired but pleasant voice and turned to look up at Jack Skellington.

"Jack! I don't know what to do!"

As helpful as ever, the Pumpkin King nodded sagely, an expectant look on his face as he took in the hovering spirit near him. The Mayor wondered briefly how he always knew when there was a problem and could so quickly pinpoint its source. It was one of the reasons why he relied on Jack so heavily.

"Don't worry, Mr. Mayor," Jack said calmly. "I'm sure that we can get whatever the problem is sorted out. But first, may I ask your name?" he asked as he met Frost's curiosity laden gaze. The boy did a once over, taking in the skeleton for a moment before sliding his staff down to the ground and promptly crouching on it so he was eye to eye socket with the Pumpkin King.

"Jack Frost," the boy said, holding out a hand over The Mayor's head. Jack took it and shook it firmly.

"Jack Skellington," Jack replied politely. "Now, what can I do to help?"

"Jack! He's looking for the Tooth Fairy!" The Mayor couldn't help but burst out. Just mentioning _her_ almost sent him into another panic attack. But who could blame him? "He says they're _old friends_!" he wailed.

Jack, for his part, looked rather stunned himself as he glanced between The Mayor and Frost. "Oh? Truly?" The boy nodded reluctantly, and The Mayor couldn't help but let his frowning face out again. It didn't deter Jack from smiling at the newcomer however. "Well then, you would be the only person to meet her in the last century and live to tell the tale as far as I know. Even Oogie Boogie couldn't claim that."

"Wait," Frost cut in warily. "Oogie Boogie?"

The Mayor turned to him with a glare, how could this child know _her_ but not Jack or _him_. "The boogieman, of course!"

Frost's eyes widened in recognition and The Mayor cautiously felt both hope and fear rise in him. If he knew the bag of bugs just by a certain name, maybe that meant he didn't really know _her_ but a different being that just used the name 'Tooth Fairy' (though why anyone would use _her_ name was beyond him). Still, him knowing Oogie Boogie wasn't really a good sign….

"Jack!" he whined to the Pumpkin King. "What do we do? We can't send someone to tell her but what would she do to us if we don't and she finds out?! I know she's in the human world, but we can't take the chance! I don't even know how to find her! I've never wanted to and she was banished so long a go that even if I was told how at some point I don't remember! I'm only an elected official after all! I shouldn't have to deal with these kinds of things!"

And his day had started out so _well_ too.

"Alright, alright," Jack said, his voice soothing as he held up his bony hands in a placating gesture. Then he looked pointedly at The Mayor. "Why don't you head to Town Hall and I'll take care of Mr. Frost here."

Instantly The Mayor's happy face popped back into place as his earlier unspoken wish was answered. "Would you, Jack?"

"Of course. I know you have a busy day ahead of you since you just had a meeting with the good Doctor." The Mayor almost melted with gratitude.

"Oh, I do," he said, not caring how relived his voice sounded. "Thank you so much, Jack!" With that he turned to Frost. "Alright, Mr. Frost, our Jack Skellington will discuss this with you and I'm sure you can all come to a solution! If you need anything else…" he paused. "Uh…if you need anything else, please don't come to me!"

With that he rushed down the steps and out the door, more than happy to be rid of the new problem. He'd design the flyer and write out the award list under his desk, and take a long lunch down there too, hopefully by then there'd be no more mention of the Tooth Fairy and he'd be able to announce the Town Meeting, though it was likely that would devolve into a riot as all meetings around anything that related to _her_ did.

xXx

Jack Frost watched the little two-faced man/spirit thing leave with no small amount of relief. He didn't seem like he'd be of much help anyway and his reaction to this world's equivalent of Tooth still bothered him even more than their Easter Bunny's had. Jack turned back to the being on whose doorstep he'd been dropped.

"Would you mind coming in?" the skeleton (it was an actual walking, talking, _skeleton) _in a pink (_pink?!) _robe asked, stepping aside from the door. Jack hesitated, not liking the idea of going into the creepy-looking place, even if he really did want to find all of the versions of his friends in this place since he wasn't sure anyone else would care enough to help him get home and this guy seemed like the best shot at finding Tooth.

And following finding this world's version of Tooth, he would try and figure out what to do next. Most likely he would find that other, mini version of North. After all, if this world had Guardians, Santa Clause would be one of them, and with Guardians came years of lore, magic and amazing creativity at problem solving. Perhaps, if he was very lucky, they would even have their own Man in the Moon.

And wasn't that a strange idea as Jack had always gotten the impression that MiM was a very unique individual. He'd never asked where the older spirit had come from–it could even be this world for all he knew–or if he could perhaps be one of many such beings. If that were the case, had they all traveled and chosen worlds to protect, or was it just MiM and maybe a few others that had set off on their own to sail the stars?

After a few moments of gathering his thoughts (and his courage), Jack nodded and stepped into the dark, spooky abode only to be immediately taken aback. To his surprise, the room actually looked somewhat comfortable (despite the dark décor and furniture) and he didn't even mind the temperature, although anyone else—except apparently talking skeletons—would have shivered.

Black played very prominently in the room's color scheme, followed closely by a charcoal and then a light gray although he noted a few browns and some orange highlights here and there as well. Cobwebs gathered in the corners, giving the room an abandoned feel that Jack couldn't describe as anything but eerie. Still, he could feel a sense of welcome and a quiet happiness radiate through the house. It made for a rather confusing paradox.

All in all it _looked_ like he'd stepped into a place that Pitch Black would find very comfortable but _felt_ more like Sandy's dream island. The surreal sensation made Jack feel a little uneasy despite the air of the house, but as his host had been nothing but polite so far, he tried to hide it.

"Please forgive my dressing gown. I was just about to go to sleep," Mr. Skellington commented, drawing back Jack's attention as he brushed off a dusty couch and gestured for his guest to sit. Jack stepped forward warily, keeping his eyes on the other being and his staff ready to bare.

"But it's morning," the winter spirit couldn't help but comment as he lowered himself to the couch the skeleton indicated, finding it neither as plush nor as comfortable as it appeared.

"Yes, it is. A rather cheerily bright one too," Mr. Skellington returned, blinking at Jack as if his statement had been the most obvious thing ever (which he realized now that he thought about it, it kind of had been).

"You…sleep during the day?" Jack asked, trying to clarify his earlier confusion.

Mr. Skelington nodded, a light of recognition coming to his empty eyes somehow. "Why yes. Don't you?"

Jack shrugged. "I sleep whenever." Truthfully he rarely truly slept. Actually, he couldn't really remember the last time he had done more than cat nap. Maybe that had something to do with him feeling so tired recently. That had been part of the reason he'd gone to North's place to begin with, as the Spirit of Wonder had offered him a place to stay if he'd needed it.

"Hmm," the skeleton nodded, holding his chin in one bony hand as he studied Jack. "An unusual answer. I have found through our recent conversations with other towns, that Halloween Town is rather unique in sleeping during the day, with most of the others resting at night. If you sleep during nether specifically…well, truthfully, I can't tell. Please forgive my bluntness, but are you alive or undead?"

"Huh?" The winter spirit asked confusedly before he re-ran the sentence through his head again and paused, scratching his head. "What do you mean by 'undead'?"

Mr. Skellington waved a hand casually, as if punctuating a thought that was so common it shouldn't need to be explained. "I mean undead—as in you were once alive, but now you are neither alive nor dead. Or perhaps you were created as undead to begin with?"

Jack frowned, not liking where the conversation was headed. "Uh, I don't know. I did die…I think, but I'm alive now, I guess."

"You guess?"

"I don't really want to talk about it."

Thankfully Skeleton Jack seemed to understand this and stood straight again before lowering himself rather gracefully into an armchair opposite of Jack.

"So, you are looking for the Tooth Fairy?"

Jack nodded, grateful to get back to the task at hand. "Yes. I…need to make sure of something."

Mr. Skellington raised an eyebrow (or he would have if he'd had an eyebrow—and again that made Jack wonder just how he could do that without any skin on his face). "May I ask what you need to verify?"

Jack bit his lip, wondering how to put it. "Uh…I think I'm from a different…um…planet."

The skeleton's not-eyebrows shot impossibly up at that. "Oh?"

Jack nodded grimly. "Yes. I…just can't find another way to explain why North and Bunny would be so different. They weren't who they were supposed to be…and neither one of them could come up with a prank this extravagant." At least, he didn't think so.

"North and Bunny?" Mr. Skellington asked.

The winter spirit wanted to sigh. "Yeah. Nicholas St. North and E. Aster Bunnymund. As far as I know they're supposed to be Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, but they're…not."

The skeleton seemed to perk up. "Sandy Claws? You know Sandy Claws?"

Jack's head jerked up. "Sandy? You mean the Sandman?"

Skeleton Jack's expression turned puzzled. "Sandman?"

The winter spirit had to think back for a moment before it clicked. "Oh, you mean Santa Claus. Right." Jack scowled. Seriously, had this guy been listening at all? "No I don't know him. Not the one you're thinking of in any case," he said coldly. "The Santa Claus I know is…well, taller and scarier."

It had been the wrong thing to say. He practically saw a light flicker on in those dark eye sockets. "A scary Sandy Claws? Really? How interesting."

"No," Jack said hastily, trying to correct the impression he'd accidentally given. "Uh, he's tall and can be intimidating, but he's actually really…uh, well…" He was having a problem coming up with the right word. 'Nice' didn't really seem to cover it, but he wasn't about to use a stupid, girly word like 'sweet'. The problem was, nothing else really fit North.

"Jolly?" Jack said finally. But that still seemed so inadequate. Then he remembered those wooden dolls. "Full of wonder," he amended softly. There, that sounded somewhat better.

Mr. Skellington nodded. "That certainly sounds like Sandy. Except for the 'tall' part of course." The skeleton cocked his head at Jack. "You mentioned someone else. Is this 'Sandman' a friend of yours too?"

Having it put like that just reminded Jack exactly what kind of a predicament he'd gotten himself into and he smiled grimly. "Yeah."

"But you haven't met him here yet?"

Jack shook his head.

"But you've met Sandy and the Easter Bunny, and they're both different from what you remember?"

Blinking, Jack paused and looked up at the other being. "Yes."

"Hmm," Mr. Skellington said, holding his chin in his hand again as he adopted a look of extreme concentration. After a moment, he seemed to come to a conclusion because he glanced up at Jack. "Don't you think that perhaps you have enough evidence just by seeing those two that you are indeed in a different world?"

Jack hesitated. "Well, I just wanted to make sure. Explore all my options and all that." That and he still held out hope that he could find someone he knew here, no matter how slim the odds.

"Do you have any other friends besides the Tooth Fairy or this 'Sandman'?"

This time the winter spirit frowned. "Well, I do know a few other spirits, but they tend to be harder to find."

"Such as?" the skeleton prodded.

Jack shrugged. Why not? "The Man in the Moon and Mother Nature come to mind."

Judging from the skeleton's blank expression, those two didn't ring a bell anymore than Sandman.

The fact that even spirits didn't know people so important to Jack (not to mention that they most likely didn't believe in them) coupled with their fear of someone as sweet as Tooth… Gripping his staff tightly in an effort to distract himself, Jack tried not to scowl at his host. "You sound like everyone else—like you don't want me to find the Tooth Fairy. I get that things are weird here so you're trying to give me options, but I want to know why everyone's so uptight about her. I mean, she's a freaking Tooth Fairy for MiM's sake."

He did _not_ like the look the skeleton was giving him now. Jack figured it translated to something between 'Are you sane?' and 'Did you really have the guts to just say that?'

They stayed locked in their mini stare-off for a while before the Skeleton sighed, his expression softening.

"You really don't know," he finally concluded, eye sockets never leaving the winter spirit.

"Know what?"

Mr. Skellington sat back in his chair, still scrutinizing Jack. It took him several moments to answer.

"The Tooth Fairy did indeed live here over a century ago. After all, this is Halloween Town, all things scary and frightening flock to us to the point that we basically have monopoly, though at our core, we do it for fun. True harm, especially to those still living…." The skeleton looked, almost sad, as if remembering something painful. "It was actually passed into law the last year the Tooth Fairy was among us: You can do anything you need to scare children without hurting them. Even Oogie Boogie doesn't take it too far, though he has come close."

Jack bit back the surprise at that. Pitch had done everything he could go gain as much power as possible, which had been why the Guardians needed to stop him. He had been hurting people, and he had no qualms doing so. From what Skeleton Jack had said, this Boogieman didn't seem like that at all. The apparent difference boggled his mind.

The skeleton continued, keeping a close eye socket on him, reading everyone one of his reactions. "I don't know about the Tooth Fairy in your world, but in ours she is a hideous monster. She collects the teeth for her own reasons and rewards children's belief in her by leaving a gift in the tooth's place. However, if a child sees her face, she'll kill them."

At first all Jack could do was stare as he imagined Tooth—positive, hyper, over-protective, and utterly dedicated to protecting children—trying to kill someone. She hadn't even tried to kill Pitch. It just didn't register and he couldn't seem to process the thought.

Then he remembered what Mr. Skellinton had said about this Tooth Fairy being a monster. The image in his mind began to change, growing larger and more bulbous, black with sharp teeth. He had no idea if his image was correct, but when someone said 'monster', something like this usually came to mind. This time the image replaced the Tooth from his world just as the strange Santa Claus and Easter Bunny had, and he felt his jaw clench. "She what?!" Jack hissed angrily. "How could you let her do that?!"

Mr. Skellington gazed dryly at Jack, and suddenly it clicked with him about the law the skeleton mentioned and the significance of it being created when it had been.

Apparently Mr. Skellington saw the recognition and elaborated with a nod. "She had to realize that with the law passed that she would not be welcome here, and I think she knew that we made the law with her in mind." The skeleton tilted his head in consideration. "Truthfully, I found it sad that instead of changing her ways, she decided to continue as before. We still tried to stop her, but she was powerful. The best we could do is anchor her power to a certain area on Earth to contain her once we banished her in disgrace. As a consequence, her access to the world at large was limited and that leash remains to this day, constantly renewed."

The Skeleton finally looked down at his clasped hands. "Even with all of those precautions in place, even I could not find her if she did not wish to be found. That should give you some idea as to her power."

Jack was still having a hard time wrapping his head around this. "Wait, so your Tooth Fairy kills people (although she still leaves gifts and protects the teeth), and she hates being seen?"

Skeleton Jack nodded.

Jack shook his head. "Then…your Tooth Fairy is worse than your Boogieman! Heck, she almost sounds worse than _my_ world's Boogieman!"

"Your world's Boogieman?" The skeleton looked thoughtful. "What an interesting concept. Would you mind telling me about him?"

Jack couldn't help but feel taken back. That had been a rather abrupt change of subject. Still, this undead skeleton had told the winter spirit an awful lot about this new world and he couldn't see any harm in telling him something like that in return.

"Um, okay," Jack said slowly. Then he launched into his description of the Nightmare King. He told of his cruelty and goals, spoke of his power and his strengths and how the Guardians had defeated him.

"So," Mr. Skellington said, leaning forward intently after Jack had finished his tale, "you say that these children were the ones to overcome fear? Fascinating. I've never—"

"Jack?" Both men looked up at the soft, feminine voice. In the doorway to the room, one of the strangest women Jack had ever seen stood unassumingly in a pink dressing gown that matched Mr. Skellington's. It didn't do anything to hide the many stitches that ran along much of her visible skin and seemed to be holding the grey skin (or was he skin fabric? He couldn't quite tell) together. "Dear? What is going on?"

"Oh, Sally," Mr. Skellington stood up and walked over to the woman, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek before turning around again. He was never going to get over how the skeleton's actual skull seemed to reshape itself with his expressions; _too_ freaky. "Mr. Frost, may I introduce my wife Sally?"

"Ma'am," Jack muttered, hoping that would be polite enough in light of the slightly regal air the delicate looking woman gave off. He wasn't exactly the world's foremost expert on manners, but he could already tell she was like his Tooth, kind and gracious and he didn't want to disappoint her.

"Pleased to meet you," she said, nodding back at Jack with a warm smile. Then she glanced back to her husband (which really took surreal to a new level). "I see this might take a while. Do you need me to do anything? I can make some tea."

"Oh, no dearest," Mr. Skellington said with an apologetic smile. "I was almost finished with our discussion. You see, Mr. Frost here is from another world. Perhaps another dimension even!"

"Dimension?" Jack asked warily, cocking his head to the side. He didn't like the sound of that. He'd heard Jamie say something about it before, but hadn't really paid attention as he didn't much care for the new science stuff.

Mr. and Mrs. Skellington looked over him with almost identical looks of quiet contemplation for a moment before the skeleton spoke up. "I'll take you to Dr. Finklstien tonight. He'll be able to explain it far better than I can, and perhaps he can even help."

"Help with what?" Sally asked.

"Well he wants to go home," he turned to Jack. "That's what I'm assuming you would like?"

Hadn't he said that earlier? Jack couldn't remember, but it had been so obvious to him that he couldn't understand why anyone would question that.

"Yes," he said finally.

"Very well then," Mr. Skellington said with a bright grin. "Allow me to go and prepare the guest room for you."

"Oh! No, no thanks," Jack said hurriedly. "I'll be fine outside." After all, he hadn't exactly been welcome inside anything (even abandoned houses) for centuries.

The skeleton waved his hand dismissively. "Nonsense. I insist."

Jack hesitated, unsure of what to do. Truthfully that had been part of the reason he'd been tearing around North's place when this whole thing had happened. Because he'd never been welcome, he rarely felt comfortable staying in houses. Not to mention they usually tended to be too warm and restricting, although he hadn't had a problem so far with this one, and he _was_ tired after being shot through a portal to another world and searching for someone he might actually know.

Still, he doubted from his experience already that it would be a room he was comfortable in. He didn't much care for any of the bugs that might call this house a home and had little doubt he'd run into his fair share here. Unless he froze the room over first; a light dusting of frost couldn't hurt anything…could it? Or perhaps he could open the window. It had felt like late fall outside and the night had been well on its way to cooling down.

After a moment of indecision, he decided to give in.

"Alright, and thank you. Both of you."

Surprisingly it was Sally who answered. "You're more than welcome, Mr. Frost."

xXx

Author's Note: I got this version of the Tooth Fairy from the movie "Darkness Falls". It's pretty creepy, a bit cheesy and a fabulous idea that I thought could work really well with this story. Don't think she'll come in much, but I figured that I should give credit where it is due.

Speaking of which, thanks KuroiAtropos for being awesome and beta-reading this for me! And for all my friends who let me bounce ideas off of them. ;)


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